Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-10-01


About STREET CARS.
Wllaxa Dssnses Details the Delays In
shippaDg he Natsrisl-The Van De-
Dosls Electric system and What 1t
Gan do-Bov the Tracks VIII be Laid.
Willard Bsnn,tt was in town yesterday
and when sem BY . representative Of
Tue MnER was asked where the rest OF the
street railroad material 10 now.
"Somewhers between here and St. Paul,
l believe" said he. Its Q shame the way
we've been trsated In that matter. When
We gave the order for the street rails, which
ws did ~ soon a. We could find out the
beat pattern to use, We Included in 1t the
order Tor all the bolts, ETC., necessary. The
congratulated the contractfo o the rails
had TO give out Che contract for bolts, ETC.,
to another mill in Pittsburg which had a
strike or . shut down that delayed them
several w-eks. We knew nothing Of that,
however, until the rails arrived, when, to
our surprise, tie necessary fastenings were
nowhere. The rails took twenty.seven
days to reach here over the Union Pacific,
although they charged US five cents a ton
higher freight rate than even agricultural
implements, and they came on q fiat car.
Jones & Laughlin, Of Pittsburg, wired us
they shipped the hundred tons OF railroad
material now coming to US on the 10th.
and every assurance was given US by the
I Northern Pacific officials that they would
| be expedited through from P%ittsburg. !
have not the least doubt they lay in Chi
cago several days. Mr.. Hannaford says
/ they were not shipped till the 10th at
Pittsburg and McCaig says solemnly he
will eat his head if they are not here by
here by then, though you must admit we've
been hardly dealt with all round"
"When were you going to get your e:ec.
trio motorf"
"Well, here's q letter I received in reply
to the answers I sent the Van Depoele
Company. They sent me q long and
minute liet OF questions as to the grade,
and = thousand other things, and l gave
them fall particulars, at the same time
asking them to make q bid on the informn.
ton furnished. Now they say that on 6
and 8 per cent. grades with 14-foot cars
and 12-horse motor, 8 miles an hour can
q IA per cent. grade at the rate of 3 miles
an hour, it would take 25-horse
power. Three miles an hour!
Why. it's absurd. The average
grade between here and South Butte is
nearly z per cent, and the distance a miit
and a hall. To come up from the depot
would take half an hour and any one
could walk It in less time than that
Meaderviile is two miles from the corner OF
Main and Broadway and it would take
forty minutes to come in from there. There
is no city in the country SO hard to con-
-truct a street railroad in as Butte, but
We want to put in the best possible and we
will. too, II they'll only give Us time. The
grade up to VAUDEVILLE is over ii per cent.
and up bill nearly all the way. II they
cannot furnish us with some power that
will enable q street a to climb q hill
quicker than three miles an hour, I'm
afraid we'll have to give them up"
"That's tho Van Depoele system that the
Omaha Bee Is quoted 10 the Inter Noun
tain this afternoon as exactly meeting the
wants of Butter"
"There's no other. But l may say that
on a level or down hill they can go at the
rate OF IL miles an hour. You see, this
3-mile- amour rate OF progress might not
be such disadvantage If it were Only for q
block or 80, and then strike a level and
make twelve miles an hour. But, as l said.
it's uphill all the way-from South Butte,
from M~eaderville, from Rocker-all more
than 6 per cent grades-and up to Center
vile it's IA. I don't see Of what use the
electric system will be to us
lis it expensive?"
mot so much as l thought. The motors,
generators, attachments, copper wire and
the whole outfit complete set up, ready ior
use, and attended by the company's men
order, would only cost a little over 500:
900. I was prepared to hear that it was
far more expensive than this. and would
order it in q minute if I thought it the
bekt system I could get. Bu5 know
nobody would be satisfied with a three.
miles-an-hour gait and SO am still in
favor of the noikeless exhaust motor as the
only feasible means OF traction. OF course.
our charter calls for electric or cable or
horse power. and we don't intend to give
that up. But in the meanwhile the motors
would meet the public needle as nothing elss
[ know of could, and l am in hopes that
the Council will see this yet"
II suppose the motors would be less ex.
pensive than the electric system?"
"On tire contrary. they would cost more
in the long run. But my ambition, when
l take hold Of a public enterprise like this
is to make it first class in every respect.
l know just rs we'll as I'm standing here
that if the people ever get a chance to en-
Joy the benefits OF these motors they'll
never wan to change them"
"Mr. Bennett. o are your tracks going
affect the county roads? Some people, l
hear. are making great objections to you
On account OF the injury your line will be to
:God help the country roads of. Silver
near Butte" was the pious exclama-
ion Of the railroad builder. "If anything,
our line will be an improvement to them.
The present county roads do not cover
half the width they are entitled to. We
an run along either side of the existing
racks and never encroach an inch upon
~ thought Mr.. Dawson was going to Law
Town y block or two OF the road to show
What it will be whsn completed"
There is no need to do SO. The rails
We use and the method by which we will
the rails with three.inth plank will
Iatlefy all DIRECTORS as soon as we Law it
Town. We plank inside and outside the /
all the way and vehicles can cross the |
rack without the least jar. These rails, /
we have laid them down az we bro.
'ose. will be superior to any fat rail in
lse."
Can vehicles run on the rails or between
mo, they cannot. The rails are too
ride apart for that
what size cars are those you have at
he depot?"
They are 12-foot cars, from Stephenson
I New York, the best car-maker in the
ountry. They are beauties. The wheels
re higher than usual to make them easier
o pull up bill. They are the usual double
nders, not bobtails. They are seated
18th perforated wood over which we will
lace strips OF velvet carpetinq in winter.
INK the next l shall order will be only
O'foot cars. so as to get them as light as